Our Winter Soldier

Ceridwen & I made a pilgrimage to Bordentown, New Jersey today. It is a town where Thomas Paine much enjoyed living, and a town that actively celebrates its most famous resident.

Here's the great blipper, checking in with the great pamphleteer and revolutionary leader. On the side of the monument there is a quote from a letter he wrote in 1789:

"I had rather see my horse Button in his own stable, or eating the grass of Bordentown, than see all the pomp and show of Europe."

Here is a poem I just found, attributed to Paine and demonstrating solidarity with a cat. It reminds me of a story written by the great French anarchist Octave Mirbeau, Le petit gardeur de vaches (1887). That last item is not for the squeamish, but it's very powerful.

It was a chilly but fascinating day!